Couple evicted numerous times trying to now manipulate Texoma realtors

POTTSBORO, Tex. (KXII) - Realtors are calling a couple 'serial squatters' after they were accused of being evicted from over 20 homes which they would stay in for a few months and not pay anything before being kicked out and moving on to their next victim. It all came to light after CBS 11 in Dallas investigated the Schwab couple last week.

Now, they're in Texoma.

When Sherman Easy Life Realty agent Brandy Landon was contacted mid-October by that same couple (unaware of their background), she said she was ready to help. Landon said Heather Schwab found her on Zillow after finding a home on Lake Texoma.

“We had a good conversation, about 20 minutes, just chatting," Landon said. "I got a feel for why she wanted to move out here. She told me she wanted to move from Frisco with her family; she had a couple kids, a couple dogs, her and husband worked for a collection agency.”

Landon said she took a liking to Heather over the phone, so she began searching for Pottsboro homes near the lake. They wanted a four bedroom home that had been on the market for a while.

“She said she had procrastinated and that their lease was up on Oct. 31, and she contacted me on Oct. 16," Landon said. "She said she had to get into a home by Nov. 1. I was like, 'wow that cutting it pretty close.'”

She tried anyway. Her and her husband William Eric Schwab came up from Frisco to look at a $400,000 home in the Tanglewood Resort properties on a golf course. They liked it--and made a non-traditional offer.

“They said we just need a temporary lease first so we needed to get in rent the place for a couple months with a contract to purchase," Landon said.

The seller Wanda Poe and her clients said no to the offer. In hindsight, Landon said that was a blessing.

"A couple days later she sent me some homes in Prosper," Landon said.

She contacted an agent in Prosper who asked her if her clients were Heather and Eric Schwab. A report on CBS 11 (http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2017/10/30/serial-squatters/) had aired the day before detailing their numerous evictions over the past decade or so. It said they would take thousands from homeowners before moving on to their next victims.

Upon hearing their identities, "I was shocked, to be honest," Landon said. "I've had some vibes from other people that ended up checking out, but I never got a bad vibe from them."

Lindsay Wright, the associate executive with Greater Texoma Association of Realtors, said she was shocked too, especially that the squatters were now trying to target Texoma properties.

"I don’t know how far to what extent they’ll go," Wright said. "They're very well-educated and rehearsed on what they do. I don’t want my realtors to be their next victim."

Wright said they were likely coming north to avoid being discovered in Dallas again.

Landon said the couple would request homes on the market for a while with the expectation that sellers would be desperate. She also guessed they wanted the temporary lease with a contract to buy to bypass a background check, because renter's history wasn't needed.

We tried calling Heather on the number Landon used days ago. It was disconnected.

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